Black lawmakers look forward to better days for Florida A&M

BY BRENT KALLESTADThe Associated Press

Published: Thursday, March 22, 2007 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, March 22, 2007 at 12:00 a.m.

TALLAHASSEE - Any Florida A&M official criminally responsible for a multimillion dollar cash shortage revealed in a recent audit should be prosecuted, a member of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus said Wednesday.
"If criminal wrongdoing has been done, then those people will have to suffer the consequences," state Rep. Curtis Richardson, D-Tallahassee, said during a rally at the Capitol for the embattled university.
Richardson and other members of the Legislative Black Caucus blamed poor decisions by the school's trustees in recent years for contributing to the ongoing financial issues at the state's lone public historically black university. The head of the State University System announced plans Monday for a task force to investigate the school's finances, and at least two other state lawmakers have called for a criminal investigation.
"There's a cloud that hangs over the university in terms of its financial problem," state Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, another caucus member, told a cheering group of students, administrators and alumni outside the Senate Office Building. "We're going to make the Board of Trustees and the administration accountable."
Interim President Castell Bryant was notably absent from the rally.
"Dr. Bryant has served a purpose at Florida A&M University," Richardson said. "She was put there for a reason, to begin to look at these issues. Unfortunately , they haven't been rooted out to the degree that we would have liked to have seen and actually, in some instances, the situation is worse."
Bryant was meeting with lawmakers inside the Capitol on issues facing the school, said spokeswoman Pam Bryant, who is not related.
"We are prepared to work fully with the task force and ultimately the Legislature. We take this very seriously and it's a priority issue. We've already begun to work on addressing the findings and recommendations that were given to us," she said.
Castell Bryant leaves her temporary post after 30 months on July 1. During her tenure, she removed the school's inspector and his top deputy after they initiated an audit last year into activities of senior administration officials. She also rejected an overture from the state for accounting assistance, which the longtime president of the Florida A&M faculty union called a mistake.
"The problems are deep," said Bill Tucker, a retired physics professor who spent 32 years at the school. "We've been here before, we didn't really straighten it out.
James Ammons, a former provost at the school, will succeed Bryant as president.
"I want to give the new leadership an opportunity to right the ship," Gov. Charlie Crist said Wednesday.
The university's latest difficulties, however, could adversely affect the school's budgeting requests now being considered by the Legislature.
The audit findings that were made public last week concluded that accounting records did not accurately reflect the budget approved by the school's trustees, and the trustees and president didn't approve budget amendments.
The term of trustees chairwoman Challis Lowe of Nashville, Tenn., expires this year and trustees Spurgeon McWilliams of Tallahassee and Jesse Tyson of Coral Gables still face Senate confirmation, Pam Bryant said.
It would appear that not much has improved since an audit by the KPMG accounting firm more than two years ago showed the university didn't balance its books and frequently could not track how it spent money. Auditors found that Florida A&M staff failed to locate reconciled bank accounts for the second half of 2004, had mixed up credits and debits on ledgers and could not provide budget policies.
A separate audit earlier that year revealed the university spent at least $51.1 million more than was budgeted and paid staff $19.5 million less in salaries than state records said it should. KPMG could not explain the discrepancy.

TALLAHASSEE - Any Florida A&M official criminally responsible for a multimillion dollar cash shortage revealed in a recent audit should be prosecuted, a member of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus said Wednesday.<BR>
"If criminal wrongdoing has been done, then those people will have to suffer the consequences," state Rep. Curtis Richardson, D-Tallahassee, said during a rally at the Capitol for the embattled university.<BR>
Richardson and other members of the Legislative Black Caucus blamed poor decisions by the school's trustees in recent years for contributing to the ongoing financial issues at the state's lone public historically black university. The head of the State University System announced plans Monday for a task force to investigate the school's finances, and at least two other state lawmakers have called for a criminal investigation.<BR>
"There's a cloud that hangs over the university in terms of its financial problem," state Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, another caucus member, told a cheering group of students, administrators and alumni outside the Senate Office Building. "We're going to make the Board of Trustees and the administration accountable."<BR>
Interim President Castell Bryant was notably absent from the rally.<BR>
"Dr. Bryant has served a purpose at Florida A&M University," Richardson said. "She was put there for a reason, to begin to look at these issues. Unfortunately , they haven't been rooted out to the degree that we would have liked to have seen and actually, in some instances, the situation is worse."<BR>
Bryant was meeting with lawmakers inside the Capitol on issues facing the school, said spokeswoman Pam Bryant, who is not related.<BR>
"We are prepared to work fully with the task force and ultimately the Legislature. We take this very seriously and it's a priority issue. We've already begun to work on addressing the findings and recommendations that were given to us," she said.<BR>
Castell Bryant leaves her temporary post after 30 months on July 1. During her tenure, she removed the school's inspector and his top deputy after they initiated an audit last year into activities of senior administration officials. She also rejected an overture from the state for accounting assistance, which the longtime president of the Florida A&M faculty union called a mistake.<BR>
"The problems are deep," said Bill Tucker, a retired physics professor who spent 32 years at the school. "We've been here before, we didn't really straighten it out.<BR>
James Ammons, a former provost at the school, will succeed Bryant as president.<BR>
"I want to give the new leadership an opportunity to right the ship," Gov. Charlie Crist said Wednesday.<BR>
The university's latest difficulties, however, could adversely affect the school's budgeting requests now being considered by the Legislature.<BR>
The audit findings that were made public last week concluded that accounting records did not accurately reflect the budget approved by the school's trustees, and the trustees and president didn't approve budget amendments.<BR>
The term of trustees chairwoman Challis Lowe of Nashville, Tenn., expires this year and trustees Spurgeon McWilliams of Tallahassee and Jesse Tyson of Coral Gables still face Senate confirmation, Pam Bryant said.<BR>
It would appear that not much has improved since an audit by the KPMG accounting firm more than two years ago showed the university didn't balance its books and frequently could not track how it spent money. Auditors found that Florida A&M staff failed to locate reconciled bank accounts for the second half of 2004, had mixed up credits and debits on ledgers and could not provide budget policies.<BR>
A separate audit earlier that year revealed the university spent at least $51.1 million more than was budgeted and paid staff $19.5 million less in salaries than state records said it should. KPMG could not explain the discrepancy.<BR>